Collapsible pedestal chair with spring supported seat



Feb. 15, 1955 BRILL COLLAPSIBLE PEDESTAL CHAIR WITH SPRING SUPPORTED SEAT Tlc l.

Filed June 5, 1955 T1 qZJ a 4 a Li 5/ m 5 T J y 4. 8

JLTI lNVENT O R f/PW/N BRILL United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE PEDESTAL CHAIR WITH SPRING SUPPORTED SEAT Irwin Brill, New York, N. Y.

Application June 5, 1953, Serial No. 359,818

9 Claims. (Cl. 155-52) This invention relates to a chair. It deals, more particularly, with a chair adapted to be collapsed and adjusted to variable heights, and which is devoid of a supporting tripod or the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a portable chair comprising a minimum of parts which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a chair the height of which can be simply adjusted to suit individual requirements.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rotatable chair which is very light, flexible, strong, durable and which can be stored within a very compact space.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a rotatable and collapsible chair which may be tilted to any position and which is devoid of a multiplicity of parts.

. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible chair wherein vibrations resulting from the application of unbalanced forces thereon are eflectively damped whereby objectionable motion of the chair is prevented while the safety and comfort of the chair are greatly enhanced.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a chair which may be subjected both to free and forced vibrations without transmitting said vibrations, either in the form of noise or actual movement.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more particularly described, and the combination and arrangement of parts will be shown in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

Reference will now be had to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the chair constructed according to the invention and ready for use.

Figure 2 shows the chair of Figure 1 in collapsed position and ready for storage.

Figure 3 shows how the lid of the chair is adapted to form the back-rest for the latter when it is displaced in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 4 shows a modified form of the chair constructed according to the invention.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the chair 20 comprises a seat portion 21, a back rest 22 which may be omitted if desired, and support means 23.

Support means 23 may be collapsed within the seat portion 21 upon relative rotation between the support means and the seat portion and thereupon the back rest may be pivoted about a hinge 24' so as to completely enclose support means 23 within seat portion 21 in the manner shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Collapsing of the support means 23 is obtained through winding a wire 24 of metal and the like around the threaded outer surface of a core 25 enclosed within a tubular member 26. The tubular member 26 and the core 25 are securely fastened by Welding and the like to the under surface of seat portion 21 and one end of wire 24 is securely fastened to the core at 28 while the opposite end is fastened to one extremity of a spring 29.

Obviously, said one end of ,the wire may be fastened to the seat portion if such is deemed desirable. Spring 29 is mounted for rotation relative to tubular member 26. Spring 29 consists of a conical helical spring which is provided with a flattened or tapering base portion 29 adapted to lie flat on the surface of the ground, and with a top portion received in a groove 30 provided on ice the outer surface of tubular member 26 which permits rotation of the spring 29 relative to the member 26.

In operation, the operator grasps the seat portion'21 and rotates the latter while preventing motion of the base portion of spring 29 by any appropriate means e. g. by stepping on the flattened or tapering base portion 29'. Thus, wire 24 is threaded over the threads of core 25, due to the motion of the seat portion 21 and core 24 with respect to the spring 29. Rotation of seat portion 21 thus winds wire 24 around core 25 so that the distance between the base portion and the top portion of spring 29is adjustable. Once the distance is adjusted to the height desired the spring 29 is held by the coils of wire 24 wound around core 25 so that spring 29 cannot expand. Also, the back rest 22 may be used as a lever in order to assist the rotation of seat portion 21.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 4, wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts, the core 25a is annular so as to receive therein telescoping parts 31 and the base portion of the spring 29 is provided with a groove 32 extending on the inner surface thereof. The groove 32 is adapted to receive one end of legs 33 provided on one of the telescoping parts 31. The wire 24 is attached to one of the legs 33. The telescoping parts 31 do not act as a support for seat portion 21. The telescoping parts 31 solely provide a dampening means for any vibrations to which spring 29 may be subjected. The telescoping parts 31 are each provided with friction bearings 34 projecting from each one of the parts and engaging the inner surface of an adjacent telescoping part whereby sufficient friction is exerted between adjacent parts in order to adequately damp any vibration to which the parts may be subjected.

The operation of the modification of the invention shown in Figure 4 is identical to the operation of the species shown in Figures l-3.

Although described as a chair it is readily apparent that the structure constructed according to the invention is susceptible of a great many more uses. For instance the structure may be used as a stand for display windows, as a base for vibrating pieces of machinery, besides being merely usable as a chair.

Although a plurality of embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it will be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A chair comprising a hollow seat having an opening in the bottom, support means mounting said seat for rotation and including a conical helical spring, and control means connected to said seat and to said spring, whereby upon rotation of said seat relative to said spring said control means is effective to deflect said spring thereby affording adjustment of the height of said chair.

2. A chair constructed according to claim 1, wherein said support means includes a projecting element secured on the underside of said hollow seat, said seat affording a housing for said control means when said spring is enclosed within said hollow seat.

3. A chair constructed according to claim 1, comprising a back rest, and pivot means at one extremity of said back rest and of said hollow seat, whereby in one position said back rest is adapted to overlie the open side of said hollow seat.

4. A portable chair comprising a hollow seat portion having an opening in the bottom, a conical helical spring provided with one extremity mounted within the opening of said seat portion for rotating movement with respect thereto and with the other extremity being adapted to lie on the surface of the ground, and means secured to said seat portion and to said other extremity at op posite ends thereof respectively, whereby upon angular displacement of said seat portion relative to said spring the distance between the ends of said means is varied and the deflection of said spring is adjusted to thereby control the height of said seat portion relative to the ground.

5. A portable chair comprising a hollow seat having an opening in the bottom, mounting means secured to the seat within the opening of the bottom of the hollow of said seat and terminating therewithin, said mounting means comprising a cylindrical element provided with a threaded surface and an annular element coaxial with and spaced from said threaded surface, a conical helical spring connected at one end thereof to said annular element; for coaxial rotation relative thereto and adaptedto project beyond theopening in the-bottom of said seat, and wir e rneans adapted to be wound on said threaded'surface and-secured to the other end of said spring, whereby 1 upon rotation of said spring relative to said seat said wire means is progressivelywou-nd on said threaded surface and the position of the other end of said spring relative tothe opening in the bottom surface of said seat is varied. i

6, A' portable chair constructed'according to claim 5,

comprising aback rest, and pivot means at one-extremity ofsaid back rest and of'said hollow seat, whereby in one position said-backrest is adapted to overlie the surface or the hollow of-said seat.

7. A portable chair constructed according to claim 5, 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 108,777 Gifford Nov. 1, 1870 135,557 Feb. 4, 1873 1,704,447 Schmid Mar. 5, 1929 2,650,645 Granlund Sept. 1, 1953 

